‘Disappointing’ Budget extends cost-of-living support
Support for vulnerable households has been extended for another six months in what was otherwise a “disappointing” Spring Budget for councils, the LGA has said.
finance
Spring Budget 2024
The last Spring Budget before the General Election did not contain any measures to adequately fund the local services people rely on every day, the LGA has concluded.
Raising awareness of the financial crisis
We’re just back from the Liberal Democrat spring conference, where we had a busy and successful time, if a bit exhausting!
Concerns about productivity plans
All of us will welcome the additional uplift in funding announced in the final local government finance settlement, while acknowledging that much more support is necessary.
Working together on finances
Our shared work on the financial settlement for local government yielded a stopgap of a further essential £600 million, helping our councils set balanced budgets over the next month.
‘Extend support for vulnerable households’ – LGA
The LGA is calling on the Government to extend the Household Support Fund, amid warnings that six million of the poorest people in the UK would need to more than double their income to escape poverty.
Ministers press councils on reserves
The LGA has warned that reserves “can only be spent once” in response to calls from ministers for councils to use them in response to current funding pressures.
Invest local to save
After months of LGA and council warnings that growing funding gaps would lead to cuts in services, the Government announced in January that an additional £600 million will be included in the final local government finance settlement for 2024/25.
An admission of total failure
Just days before many councils set their most difficult budgets in years – and many months after the LGA warned that soaring demand for social care and temporary accommodation was posing an existential risk to council budgets – the Government has finally backtracked on its catastrophic provisional local government finance settlement for 2024/25 and announced £600 million in extra funding.
Tough decisions as costs rise
As Independents and members of smaller parties, we need to take important – sometimes life-changing – decisions on behalf of all our residents, including the most vulnerable.